MJ Courchesne Copyright/Rights Expert for NAIWE

Licensing Timelines

Say that you’re ready to license rights to your titles. But how do licensing activities fit into your publishing timeline?

As your spring and summer titles release to consumers, licensing professionals like us continue to push for additional placements for your list.

But it’s also time for us to start tending to your 2021 releases.

Yes, 2021.

Although it might *feel* premature to be thinking about licensing opportunities for books that are publishing post-holiday rush and up to almost a year from now, your potential licensees are starting to make their inquiries, and will close their first selections within a few short months. As a reminder, generally, the spans and selection times for licensees like book clubs, audio publishers, and even foreign rights follow this pattern: Titles publishing July through December (“fall”): Pitches begin in January, and selections first selections are complete by early March. A few licensees may select for late in the season through April or May. Titles publishing January through June (“spring”): Pitches begin in May, and first selections generally are complete by the end of July, though some will continue to select for late in the season through October. This means that the window is starting to close for spring 2021 titles (although there’s still plenty of time for serial, foreign, and other rights). From this timeline, you can see that we are beginning to enter prime time for spring 2021 selections. What does this mean for your list? Ideally, we like to have preliminary materials for spring 2021 (i.e., bibliographic information, initial sell sheets and sample chapters) in hand for our first inquiries starting in May or June, with early manuscripts and other marketing material following in June and July. This does not mean that we can’t pitch outside of these seasons*, but the chances for more positive inquiries go up if we start pitches earlier. To that end, we would like your preliminary list of titles for 2021 as soon as possible! *The timeline for international inquiries is a bit different. These tend to run year-round, and they are driven by buzz and good reviews and advanced materials as well as strong marketing plans. We’ll write more on international licensing in a future post.

It’s important to keep your licensing professional updated on any new reviews, big marketing opportunities, and other materials available as you have them. For example, here at GPC, we are updating our international partners constantly.

Have questions, or have a title you want us to pitch for licensing? Get in touch!

#licensing #publishing #subsidiaryrights

Happy Public Domain Day (Belated)

Did you know that new works (literature, art, film, and music) are FINALLY being added to the Public Domain in the United States yearly on January 1?
On January 1, 2019, the provisions set forth in the Copyright Extension Act of 1998 finally expired, allowing hundreds of works to enter the Public Domain. From here on out (barring another piece of legislation to the contrary), new works will enter the Public Domain on January 1 of each year, just as they do in other countries.
This year, it means that works published before 1925 (with just a few exceptions) are now open for use without gaining permission from the author, their agent, or estate. So, works like Robert Frost’s collection of poems New Hampshire are available for use, as is the film The Ten Commandments (the Cecil B. DeMille version, anyway), and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”
While it’s true that some works published in 1924 (and later) might already have been in the public domain if copyright was improperly registered or renewed, and conversely, a (very) few works may still remain under copyright, it remains important to conduct the proper research into the copyright status of a work prior to using it.
But for now, authors, artists, filmmakers, and really anyone is free to create their own editions, versions, translations, or adaptations of works from 1923 and before. Hooray for more creative endeavors!
#copyright #publicdomain #publicdomainday

Should You Formally Register Your Work With the US Copyright Office?

Did you know that your work is automatically covered by U.S. copyright law as soon as you set it in a fixed format? According to Title 17 of the US Code, all works are protected under copyright law from the moment they are placed in a fixed, tangible medium and can be perceived either directly (on paper, canvas, or other “solid” medium) or with the aid of a machine or device (computer or e-device, if you will).
What does this mean? Well, essentially, you do not have to register your work with the Copyright Office in order to have some measure of protection. The law exists to help protect content creators and to help “promote innovation” in the community.
That said, you might want to formally register your work, as there are a number of benefits to this process:
-It establishes a public record of the copyright claim.
-If registered within 5 years of creation, it provides “prima facie” evidence of the validity of the copyright and the facts stated in the certificate.
-If registered within 3 months of creation or prior to infringement of the work, it will allow for statutory damages to be awarded to the copyright owner in an infringement suit.
And, perhaps most importantly:
-It allows an infringement suit to be brought forward.
You might be thinking: “Well, can’t I just mail my manuscript to myself via the U.S. Postal Service and therefore, as a government agency, I’m covered under copyright law?”
Unfortunately, all that this method will do is prove the date you mailed it to yourself on a certain date. There are no legal benefits to sending a manuscript to yourself in the mail, as the U.S. Postal Service is not an entity of the U.S. Copyright Office.
But don’t despair. Not only is the process of registering copyright easy, but it’s relatively inexpensive.
For example, for a simple registration (let’s say a book, with one author or artist), the fee is just $35 for registering online.
Perhaps the best part? You can do it on your own without a lawyer.
Why not protect your intellectual property?
More information on U.S. Copyright law and the Copyright Office may be found at: www.copyright.gov
**Originally published on the Know Your Rights Blog on March 17, 2017

Hello from MJ!

Hello, and welcome!

My name is MaryJo Slazak Courchesne (or “MJ” for short). I have been in publishing for more than 20 years, and have spent the bulk of my time serving as an expert in copyright, permissions, and subsidiary rights.

I was the Director of Subsidiary Rights at the National Geographic Society for nearly 15 years before departing to launch my own company, Gryphon Publishing Consulting (www.gryphonpublishingconsulting.net). I also spent 11 years as an Adjunct Professor in The George Washington University’s Master’s in Publishing Program, where I remain involved in GWU’s program in a support capacity even if not actively teaching.

I look forward to “meeting” you here and serving on the NAIWE Board of Experts. Feel free to drop me a line with questions you may have, or visit my website (above) for more information.

 

Latest Posts

Licensing Timelines

August 5, 2020

Happy Public Domain Day (Belated)

January 10, 2020

Should You Formally Register Your Work With the US Copyright Office?

February 7, 2019

Hello from MJ!

December 31, 2018

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